The clever format of this delightful story will have even the youngest children speaking and understanding Spanish. The ocho animales featured in Elya’s previous Eight Animals on the Town (2000) come together to bake a cake, each bringing one ingredient. The friends stir the batter, place it in the oven, and listen to Bird sing as they try to be patient. The table is all set and ready, but when the cake lands on the floor, all seems lost. As the animals lament their ruined dessert, Cow sends Bird flying off with some cash. When she returns, she carries a large prickly fruit, piña, which Cow uses to save the day. Families can enjoy the same dessert—the recipe follows the story. Each of Elya’s couplets seamlessly introduce or reinforce two Spanish words, while the cunning rhyme scheme helps readers with their pronunciation. From the names of the eight animals and the ingredients they contribute, to the common household objects they come across, there is no doubt as to the meaning of the new vocabulary. As the tale progresses, the animals are referred to only by their Spanish names, while clues in the couplets and illustrations help readers remember their meanings. While the story is amusing and educational, it is the novelty of hearing and learning a new language, combined with the marvelously colorful illustrations that will capture and hold children’s attention. A Mexican influence is apparent in Chapman’s (Doggie Dreams, 2000) detailed illustrations—from the bright colors of the equator and the palms and cacti, to the bright geometric border, the folk art–inspired drawings are sure to please. A glossary and a pronunciation guide is included, although the articles associated with Spanish nouns are absent. An appealingly painless introduction to another language. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: July 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-399-23468-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
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